Write two scripts at the same time?

Just wondering if anybody has done that kind of thing before.

It's okay to do so as it helps when you have writer's block with one script.  You really shouldn't make a practice of it, though.


Phil

thanks dogglebe, I'll keep that in mind.

Oh, and don't ask anyone, here, to read your unfinished/first draft work if you are working on more than one script.  In fact, don't mention it at all.  We've had enough SS members post their ideas du jour.  They ask for opinions regarding their latest 'blockbuster,' only to come up with a 'cooler' idea the next day.



Phil

More than one script at the same time is fine. A lot of people do it when more than one idea strikes, but you have to stay on task long enough to at least finish one of them. Just don't announce every single idea that touches you proclaiming it to be the best ever. I regularly have multiple scripts in one phase or another of writing, and I don't share until I'm almost done or need a boost.

Oh, and grammatically, the thread would be titled "Is it all right to..." Alright is slang, and too means also...

Ok, thanks George

I have a bad habbit of working on dozens of scripts at once. It's not a good one and I wouldn't recommend it, but it works for me.

As for the grammar I just thought I'd chime in. "Alright" is still an accepted way to spell "all right", and not just in slang.

Quoted Text The one-word spelling alright appeared some 75 years after all right itself had reappeared from a 400-year-long absence. Since the early 20th century some critics have insisted alright is wrong, but it has its defenders and its users. It is less frequent than all right but remains in common use especially in journalistic and business publications. It is quite common in fictional dialogue, and is used occasionally in other writing "the first two years of medical school were alright" -- Gertrude Stein

From m-w.com

What you need to do is find out what works for you.

Some people stay with one project and may find it difficult moving between various works in progress.  If you're working to a deadline, at a professional level--say for instance, writing television scripts under contract--obviously you need to stay on task.  But then in those instances, you've got teams of writers.  Still, they can't all sit around and wait for inspiration or simply decide they want to do something else.

This is why working on challenges such as the OWC are good training.  They force people to produce something under specific guidelines within a time frame.  However, if you are crafting over a long period of time, it may be very beneficial, to let things go cold and move on to other projects.

I've found it helps me to work in various genres and forms, taking time to research or study "other" things in between.  When I come back to old work or approach new work, I then find something has happened that helps me.  Whether it's the fact that my subconscious has assimilated more or "what" I don't know, but I thought I'd share that with you.

Writing constantly is hard work and it can all become very ordinary very quick.  There's been a recent post on the subject of cliches which point to the difficulty we have with avoiding them, but it seems quite evident that cliches and reworked formulaic materials often resurface and are successful because people from generation to generation are basically the same with the human condition remaining as unalterable within other variables.

So then, the challenge is trying to refurbish old ideas especially as one gets older and subsequently becomes more jaded.  We then tend to think of a lot of things as pure banality, but it really does depend on who the audience is.

This may be some of the best advice I've ever encountered and I can't remember where I heard it, but it's about the idea that "stories" aren't sold so much as "genres" are.  Importantly, what writers need to strive to understand is just that: what kind of packaging material it's made with.  Part of this concept involves the knowledge of who their audience is.

I'm thinking for example of something like the "High School Musical."  It's especially appealing to "tweeners".  Or what about something like "The Golden Girls?"  A different age group and a corresponding different mind set.  Of course it's not just age that determines audience, but that's one good place to start.

Anyways, basically I wanted to share that there are many ways of working and just to say, try different things out.

Sandra  

My advice is that you can work on two scripts at a time, but it's very helpful if they are in different stages of development. For example, you can be polishing a draft of one script, while writing a first draft on the other.

It's a little taxing to develop two scripts at the same time and takes a lot of commitment and concentration. Especially when staying in the characters and developing them.

Good luck!
Stew

I'm usually working on several scripts at once.  Working on five right now.

Of course, that's also likely why I've only posted two scripts in the whole two years I've been here...

Quoted from dogglebe Oh, and don't ask anyone, here, to read your unfinished/first draft work if you are working on more than one script.  In fact, don't mention it at all.  We've had enough SS members post their ideas du jour.  They ask for opinions regarding their latest 'blockbuster,' only to come up with a 'cooler' idea the next day. Phil

That's why I delete those idea threads in WIP. If enough effort is not put into it, the thread is removed. If they get mad about it, read the rules.

As for the two scripts at a time part, I think writing one to a certain point and if you want to let it sit that's when you start a new one. Writing two at the same time could ruin characters unless you're using the same characters or very similar characters which is probably not recommended.

I have tried two scripts at a time and found it to never work out for one of the screenplays.

If you write them in two different genres, it can probably work well.

Here's my opinion; I personally don't think it is a diciplined way to approach it. By all means keep your notebook handy and always jot down ideas of whatever comes to mind, but it can be a mental cop-out to spin two plates at the same time. Me, I'd rather spend my time (what little of it there is) working on one really good, solid, professional level project than to spend that time on two or three mediocre ones. Could be wrong, but that's how I look at it.  What ever works for you, great, and best of luck to you! BW

I'll take a few days off writing a feature-length to write a short but I'd never write two or more feature lengths at the same time. I just see it as counter-productive. I tried it once and after ten pages or so opted just to stick to the one (both got written BTW). I'm not saying it can be done but I'm sure it'll take a long time to complete a feature length script if you're working on four others at the same time.

It's ok to work on two scripts at the same time as long as you don't work on them simultaneously.

Quoted from Old Time Wesley That's why I delete those idea threads in WIP. If enough effort is not put into it, the thread is removed. If they get mad about it, read the rules.

Ghostrider is only 14. Starting at this age and asking so many questions will give him , if he sticks it out, a great start in scriptwriting.
I applaud him for joining this site and asking so many questions.